


The River in the Planet Wrea

by grexigone



Series: Alternate Universes [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Partisans and Rebels as clans, opposing clans, reluctant enemies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-14 20:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16047845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grexigone/pseuds/grexigone
Summary: Thank you so much for the comments and input! Hope you enjoy this one as wel





	1. A Boy and a Girl

There was a river in the planet Wrea.

Hidden inside thick, lush forest that was rather too far to the west of the nearest settlements, its crystal clear water was well preserved, barely touched by the planet’s inhabitants of humans, Togrutans, or even the Wreans. As for some who was lucky to came across the river, had compared it to the polished kyber, once sold by the best of craftsmen on every corner in the holy city of Jedha--another moon, another system, said to be the exact opposite of Wrea.

And yet, perhaps because of that reason, there was actually nothing special about this rather narrow river in an oceanic planet where water covered most of the earth above, and run like veins below. The river was said to have branched itself from a bigger body of water, miles away from the downstream and high up on the hills where its stubbornness had decided to separate itself from its brothers and sisters of the neighboring river. Such rebellious nature did not went unnoticed though, as nature had its own way of punishing the attitude by granting it the harshest, rockiest path through stones and roots, and left it nameless, lost in uncharted area.

There was a river in the planet Wrea.

It learnt its lesson, and endured, for with passing time, rocks and stones and roots eventually broken down, cut into small pieces to make way for the water to flood the otherwise dull earth. Yet the river held no grudges, returning the hardship with kindness that smooths the hard edges of the rocks until they finally live in harmony, the latter providing a solid foundation and firm lines for the water to flow.

And perhaps it was the stubbornness that preserve the nameless river from the change that came with the falling stars from the sky. It watched, from afar, as the light touched the earth and spread like spores in spring, and then there were noises, rustling the forest’s trees restlessly even when no wind was present. Day and night the light sparks, throwing dirts and even more rocks into the water of its brothers and sisters, and soon bodies of various creatures also followed. They fell like rain, staining the water with colors--some disappeared and some not--that swept them away like history, waiting to be forgotten.

The river heard as the wind above it whispers names--some rare and the rest it never heard before--into the trees, gathered from the distant cities where the lights and noises never stopped, rustling the dried leaves and dead branches with words like ‘clans’ and ‘partisans’ and ‘rebellions’, while the meaning of words like ‘empire’ and ‘civil war’ and ‘republic’ began to change. Nights became as restless as the days, and the noise knows no sleep anymore. The inhabitants, both old and new, had build their own homes where they would begin their life from, but only few that would eventually return.

There was a river in the planet Wrea.

Yet somehow, in the midst of the raging earth and sky, still only leaves and broken branches swept by the nameless river’s water. Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise, from the road it had chosen, and the hard lesson it was given. Or perhaps it’s pure luck that not a single creature ever thought about mapping the forest and the surrounding terrain. Or maybe, the river was too narrow, too small, or too peaceful, and in an oceanic planet such as Wrea, it could be any other body of water.

That was, until one day, an unusual crackling of the fallen branches from afar disturbed the river’s quiet sleep. It waited anxiously, as the sound grew closer and closer and closer still, until a solid shadow stepped into the small watershed by the river, and the noise changed into steady knocks between gravels.

There was a river in the planet Wrea, and today, unlike any other day, a boy stood by the water.

He was young, probably a little over ten years for his creature’s age (though secluded, the river had seen many, many children as far as its water allowed, or through the stories told by those waters running deep within the earth), yet draped in fabrics that could’ve fitted for two of his kind (maybe older as well). The sleeves seemed to went a little further than the actual length of his arms, and the belt he was wearing was way longer than his waist, leaving a lot of spared ends hanging against his dark blue tunic. His hair was of the same color with his eyes, and though the river knew not much of their liking, there was something in the latter that looked…different. As if a boy shouldn't have those look in their eyes from such a young age.

But then again, strange creature, the humans are, thought the river. Time after time It had watched as they chose the roughest, most violent stream on its brothers and sisters as a place to do their activity or to place their houses nearby. They seemed to be endlessly multiplying as well, or so told the earth and the wind, and they can’t seem to stop fighting between themselves.

This one, observed the river, was not so different, as the boy bent down and take one gravel closest to his right foot and throw it into the sky--only to catch it again before it hits the ground--over and over again.

The river watched curiously until, to its surprise, the boy suddenly threw the stone into the water, and instead of sinking immediately into the riverbed, the gravel bounced; once, twice, thrice, and then it fell, so close to the surface on the other side, across where he stood.

The boy muttered something that sounds like a curse, in language the river had never heard before.

“ _Kriff_ , that was close!” he said, already taking another gravel in his hand and toying with it, “Alright, this time I’ll get it to the other s--”

Before the boy even finished his sentence, the stone skipped the river’s peaceful water, and after bouncing four, five times, it reached the dry soil across.

Only that the stone didn’t came from him.

It was from another small human behind him, who had came there so quiet the river didn’t even notice. Another of the boy’s kind, though this one had the twin braids framing the small face and down to the shoulders. Similar to him, she was also wearing a clothes two size above her, judging from the heap of the rolled-up sleeves that was pooled just below her elbows and the additional holes dotted onto her belt. The river’s surprise seemed to be shared with the boy, from the way he turned around so quickly with one hand flying to the small on his back.

“You should aim a little higher when you throw,” the girl said cheerfully while demonstrating what she assumed as the correct gesture with her tiny body, swinging her hand from back to front, “That’s how you get the knack of it!”

The boy lowered his hand from his back and just stared at the girl, probably trying to identify who she is and--also to the river’s curiosity--why would she came there while there should be a lot more playground in the city nearby. After two seconds or more, the boy scoffed, then bent down to pick the gravel he’d dropped due to the girl’s sudden presence earlier.

“I know that,” he sounded annoyed, toying with the piece of stone again as the little girl responded with a shrug.

“Okay,” she replied lightly.

“If I really want it to, it _will_ get across,”

“Of course,”

The boy squinted his eyes, “You don’t believe me,” he murmured, gripping the gravel tighter before turning around, eyes focused once again to the other side of the river as he reposition himself, “Watch this!”

Behind him, the girl tilted her head and watch him--or rather, his throwing hand--with furrowed eyebrows. They then waited, the nameless river and her, with anticipation, as the boy squared off then swung his hands to throw the gravel.

It skipped, bouncing gracefully on the water’s surface; once, twice, thrice…

...and sank on the fourth, again, with a quiet ‘ _splotch_ ’.

The boy’s face colored. The girl chewed the inside of her cheek in an ugly attempt to save his dignity.

“I actually believed you the first time--”

“You stood behind me on purpose!” the boy suddenly exclaimed, turning around so quick it jolted the little girl for a bit, “I can’t do it if someone is watching, especially in such close distance like that!”

The girl let out a small giggle, crossing both arms in front of her chest with a smug grin, “Excuses, excuses. Why don’t you just admit that I’m better than you at skipping stone?”

“Who knows,” the boy shrugged, still looking quite annoyed and embarrassed as he kicked the gravels around his left foot and threw his head away for a few seconds before peering at the girl again, “It could have been a one time luck. Besides, I don’t even know who you are.”

“Oh please, I can even use _you_ as skipping stone and would still be able to make it across,”

“ _Hey!_ ”

“You can call me Jyn!” the girl ignored his complaints and took some quick steps to close the distance between them, picking up another rocks in both hands while doing so and shoved one to the boy as soon he was within her arm’s length--her movements seemed to be too sudden for the boy judging from the way he winced and took one step back. “Let’s say right now I’m your rival at skipping stone. Now try the technique I told you before!”

The boy hesitated for a second or two, raising his eyebrows at the secrecy. “It won’t make any difference,” he eventually grumbled as, despite his surprise, took the stone but only toyed with it in his hand, “Like I said, I _can_ make it across if I want to. I was just...distracted.”

“Oh, okay then,” the girl replied rather cheerfully before taking three long steps behind and waved both hands to point at the new distance between them, “How about now?”

“That’s not what I meant...” the boy continued in his native language, which instantly responded with a confused face from the girl, and after another series of mumbling, he eventually waved his hand to her, having given up, “Ah, forget it. Let’s just have a rematch another day.”

“Oh,” the girl raised her eyebrows as if enlightened by something, and the next words that came out of her were said in a doubtful, almost disappointed tone, “You think I’m going to attack you from behind, is that it?”

“No,” the boy replied instantly, though his eyes scanned the girl from head to toes as if testing his own theory before continuing, “...I don’t know,” he admitted his assumption rather shyly, upon seeing the girl dipping her head low and stare at her feet, “Are you?”

“You don’t trust me,” For a second or two the girl went silent, and the river could clearly see how guilt immediately crept into the boy’s face. He opened his mouth, only to close it again, ceasing whatever it was he was trying to say. “I was just trying to make friends, you know,”

“It’s not…” he finally got out nervously, “I didn’t mean to accuse you like that and, um...if any, you-you _are_ better than me at skipping stone, so ah...I’m sor--”

“HA! So you admit it!”

To both the river and the boy’s surprise, the girl suddenly laughed, raising her head to show them the widest smile they’ve ever seen that her eyes disappeared into a pair of dark lines above her plump cheeks.

“I technically just gave you a weapon! What do you think I would do, Tauntaun-head?”

In front of her, the boy’s face colored again. And if the river could laugh, it definitely will do more than splashing its water to the shore on their side.

“You’re so annoying,” the boy said between his pursed lips, shaking his head and threw his face away from the girl in a desperate attempt to hide his embarrassment. The girl, still wearing the same ear-to-ear smile, giggled even more, her shoulders shook with the ripples of laughter, as she casually walked closer to the water and repeating the same technique as before, skipped the gravel she was holding until it landed on the other side.

“See?” the girl turned to the boy while pointing to the space in front of her, “Not first time luck, and no more weapon on my hands.”

The boy gave her a side-eye and raised an eyebrow.

“Trust goes both ways,” she then added.

“What was that supposed to mean?”

The girl shrugged, “Don’t know. Sa--my father said that to me once when he thought I didn’t trust him.”

“Huh,” the boy bent down to pick up a stone, only to throw it mindlessly into the water, “Lucky you.”

“To make it across? It just need practice.”

“I wasn’t talking about that,”

“Then what? You’re so confusing, do you know that? Stop talking in riddles and say what you want.”

“ _And you’re such a pain in the ass, do you also know that?_ ” he glared at the girl, who once again doesn’t seem to be easily hurt by rudeness. “I came here to find peace, not to compete in skipping stone!”

“Fine,” after a beat, the girl then shrugged, before turning her body ever so slowly to the direction where she came earlier, “If I’m _really_ bothering you, then I’ll just leave. Not that it’s a big deal for me anyway...”

“Wha--no!” Her back was already facing him when the boy decided to run, the sudden crackle of the gravels under his feet echoed to the otherwise quiet forest followed by the rustle of the girl’s clothes, being pulled right at the sleeve and on the spot behind her elbow, “Hey, _wait_!”

They both came into a stop, and the little girl looked back at the boy lazily, switching between staring at the spot where he touched her and his expression, scrunching her eyebrows together as if weighing her options.

“Yes?” she asked.

“You...you can stay here, it’s just...the rematch that is for another day.”

The girl’s face beamed up, “So this time I’m still better than you, right?”

“ _Stop that already!_ ”

“But that’s the truth,”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying, go away!”

“Okay,” the girl continued on her previous track, only to be stopped by the boy again, this time his hand was gripping hard at her shoulder.

“No, wait!”

“So, should I go or not?” the girl murmured, turning her face to look at the boy with a pretentiously bored expression, “Make up your mind, I can’t understand your--hey, _what is that?_ ”

She didn’t let the boy say anything more than a confused “Huh?” before taking quick steps towards two chunky boulders only a few meters upstream. There, between what was once the nature’s punishment to the river, the little girl then made her way down by skillfully hopping from one notch to another, her legs unexpectedly steady despite their small size until she was able to get closer to--but still not touching--the surface of the water. The boy and the river watched intently as she pulled out a k’unai from inside her oversized boots, and use it to nudge and freed the unexpected haul from the more turbulent upstream that had brought it.

There was a river in the planet Wrea, and for the first time in ages, trapped between discolored leaves and fragments of tree branch, the water brought down a dying body of creature similar to the children.

The girl watched impassively as the dead flow in with the water, back facing up towards the sky while the face was submerged, and the skin had gone from light into blueish color. There was no telling who or where does it came from other than upstream, probably somewhere near the waterfall that was the source of the river and its brothers and sisters, but if any, it was wearing the same color as the little girl’s moss green clothes.

The boy, the river realized, had not really paying any attention to the body but more to the girl’s hand still holding the sharp k’unai gracefully like it was a mere tree branch and not a deadly weapon. The river had rarely seen such thing being used before (other than those  buried at the bottom of the river’s body where it flows too close to where the conflict and the war happened), and always wondered how these creature could be careful--or skillful enough to decide only to hurt their opponents and not the user itself with its sharp edges.

The body flew steadily with the stream, slowed down only by its weight and the rather low elevation of the surrounding area, then further away past the fixing eyes of the boy in complete silence, until it disappeared behind the next turn. Above them all, the sun had disappeared behind the overlapping trees to create sharp orange lines that scattered over the boy and the girl’s face alike, and for a good moment, none of them was talking--even the river took some time to contemplate on the shocking discovery on its water, wondering what else the upstream might bring in the next days.

“It’s not safe here,” the girl eventually broke the silence with the tapping of her boots while she climbed back up, but instead of returning to the boy’s side, she hopped and skipped the big boulders and made her way to the other, walking down until she and him were standing across each other, with the river in between them.

“You’re not interested for a rematch anymore?” the boy asked in an even tone, as if the corpse was not the first thing he saw in his life, unlike the river.

“The war is reaching this place soon,” she replied, after shaking her head, the k’unai already returned to her boot. “Besides, a _sheno’bi_ like you should know when to fight or flee.”

An thick silence suddenly filled the space as the boy’s eyes widened at the last word, though his face betrays nothing. Between them, the river splashes its water out of increasing curiosity. It had heard about the word ‘sheno’bi’ before, just like the rest of the unfamiliar words which meanings has shifted from ‘warrior’ to a mere ‘warring clans’. There were times not so long ago when the river would hear the planet’s inhabitants mentioned ‘sheno’bi’ in a proud tone that matched their ability to manipulate the powers of the nature to their biddings, but as the years gone by, declarations turned into whispers and whenever ‘sheno’bi’ was mentioned, it would either end in a bloody fight if not disappeared into the shadows, not to be seen or revealed anymore.

Still, the river had not expect to meet not only one but two of them, especially not in a thick forest too far from any of their hidden villages, especially for ones so young.

It wasn’t until a beat later that he let out a smile, not as wide as before, but somewhat filled with pride and victory, probably at the accuracy of the girl’s deduction, before fixing his posture to stand straighter as if confirming his identity.

“You can call me Cassian,” he added, followed by a giggle that returned his face to that of his age in compare to the previous one. “That’s all, though.”

“I knew it!” she replied cheerfully, before turning her body halfway towards the forest behind her, “Not revealing one’s surname is a sheno’bi code indeed.” She then backed her way closer into the shadow of the trees, “Remember, it’s in the technique! Don’t hold the stone the same way you handle a k’unai! Until next match, Cassian! ” and so, as quick as she came, the girl disappeared again, leaving the boy--Cassian back to himself alone by the river, the shadow of his previous smile still lingered.

“Yeah, see you,” he murmured, before eventually making his way to wherever he came from. Far in the distance, the sun has set completely, making way for the moon and the stars to paint the sky in their own colors as the night creatures start to sing the song of their people. The forest became quiet again, safe from the usual noises the river had heard for years after years, feeling a hint of boredom for the first time since forever from the absence of the children’s voices. It secretly prayed for them to return, curious of the stories they might bring in the next time.

There was a river in the planet Wrea, and today, it witnessed the beginning of an unlikely friendship.

 


	2. Jyn and Cassian

Days passed slower after that eventful day, or so the river felt, and within the first week there was another body washed away by the stream and down to the ocean. Though the leaves and stones were not as much as speaking to each other, the river could still feel the growing restlessness that hangs in the air that was impossible to ignore. The loud noises in the distance became more and more frequent, and even more falling stars came down into the earth at night. Still, the river waited, hoping to catch at least the sound of the children’s footsteps if not their voices. But for weeks after weeks, there was nothing.

Until one day, the river heard the familiar rustling from the trees, the fallen branches creaked and cracked by the visitor and then, appearing from behind the bushes…

...was the boy Cassian.

He spun his head from left to right, going back to left again, eyes searching each and every corner of the watershed and its surrounding for something, maybe someone, but after seconds passed with no change, he let out a heavy breath and walked closer towards the water.

The river watched as the boy Cassian sat down, his eyes scanned the gravel around him lazily until it stopped at a thin branch just a little beyond his reach. He stretched his one arm, took the wooden piece into his small hand, and started poking the ground with it, throwing debris into the pristine water where it dissolved into nothing. Every once in a while the boy lifted his head from watching the end of the branch to his surrounding, sometimes stretching his neck as if doing so would allow him to see further, but over and over again, too, he threw his sight back to the earth, letting even heavier sigh.

The river waited, too, for the girl Jyn to appear, but even as the sun slowly crept down in the horizon, the boy remained alone.

He didn’t speak any words, didn’t even practice his stone skipping as the girl told him to, and right after the sky turns dark, he stood up and left, the sound of leaves trailing closely with his fading footsteps.

He seemed as disappointed as the river was.

 

\--

_“They are born to die fighting, so do not whine! Sheno’bi shouldn’t whine.”_

_“Maia was only 7...”_

_“And you should be thankful that a part of the corpse was retrieved. This time the enemy wasn’t only the Mothma clan, but the Andor as well. They’re really are ruthless.”_

_“She was just a child!!”_

_“She wasn’t just a child; she was a worthy sheno’bi who died fighting!”_

_“So this is what we do now? Killing each other until nothing remains? Until this world is just an empty ball of death? If that’s the world you have in mind than this world is insane, and you’re just as insane as it is!”_

_“SILENCE!”_

_“....”_

_“The journey to a world without war is never easy, Jyn. It’s time for you to grow up and learn about that! There can be no peace without sacrifice; the greater the sacrifice, the greater and longer the peace lasts.”_

_“What about working together? What about forgiving and moving on? You talk as if we are different than the Rebel clans, but we really are not! For each of our children that die, we took theirs as well. Clans be damned, you are just adults ganging up to lead children to their death!”_

_“YOU BRAT--!”_

_“Father, please!”_

_“Do not stand for her, Bodhi! Your sister needs to be taught a lesson!”_

_“Please, father. Jyn is just upset with Maia’s death. You said yourself that people grief differently, and that we must respect them.”_

_“....”_

_“Just forgive her,”_

_“...fine. Calm yourself, Jyn, and thank Bodhi for his kindness. Next time I would not be as kind.”_

_“....”_

_“Are you alright? You know this is what you’d get if you stood up against father.”_

_“Stupid adults and their stupid principle,”_

_“Shh, don’t let father hear you!”_

_“I don’t care. I’m tired, tired of this war, tired of losing people every day. It shouldn’t be that hard to create peace: someone just have to start it.”_

_“And how exactly does one start it? Walking to the other clan’s lair with white flag and scream ‘peace’ repeatedly hoping that they won’t attack you? Not everyone as trustful as you, Jyn._

_“Trust goes both ways. Someone just have to start it, opening up and hide nothing to the enemy and hope that they would return the gesture.”_

_“Hope? That kind of hope will kill you one day, sister, if you’re not killed by father first for approaching an enemy.”_

_“....”_

_“Come on, let’s eat and practice some more before the day ends. There’s no use of mourning Maia too long; it won’t bring her back anyway.”_

\--

 

It wasn’t until two weeks after the boy came alone that another long awaited rustle was heard, and once again the river waited anxiously until the shadow transformed into human form to reveal, none other but the girl Jyn.

Unlike the boy Cassian before, she didn’t check her surrounding nor waiting for any company to come, and went straight to the water’s edge and sat there, literally slumping her entire body into the ground until the gravels cracked in protest under her. The river noticed faintly how her clothes seemed to fit more into her body now (or maybe it was her that grew into the fabric), her braids were longer, and there was a slight discoloration in the shade of her skin, right on the spot below her eyes and on one edge of her lips.

For several minutes she did nothing but stared at the flowing water, a knot in her eyebrows, and the only movement she made was to bent her legs so she could hug her knees protectively in front of her chest. She didn’t say a thing, didn’t even notice when another rustle was heard and the river splashes its water excitedly when the sight of a second human appeared from within the layers of trees.

The boy’s eyes widened at the sight, and the river swore his face immediately beamed with pure happiness he doesn’t seem to show much on another occasion as soon as he saw the girl. The boy approached her with eager and joyful steps, trotting down until he was beside her and able to look down at her taut face.

“Hey,” he greeted cheerfully, offering a full-on smile almost similar to the one the girl gave during their first meeting.

“Hey,” came her flat, cold reply, didn’t even bother to look up and meet the boy’s gaze.

“Been a while, uh...”

“Jyn.”

“Ah, yes! So...should we start the match now, or?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Yet, none of them move. The little girl only tightened her arms around her knees and beside her, standing in rather awkward stance upon the girl’s half-attention to his proposal, the boy shifted his weight from one foot to another restlessly, staring interchangeably between her and the gravels below them as if one of them could magically fly into their hands.

After a beat, the boy eventually gave up on waiting and took a deep breath before asking, “Hey, you alright?”

The girl tapped her feet on the ground several times, weighing her options, “I was…” she began, “Nevermind, I’m fine.”

“Um,” the boy tilted his head to one side, trying to examine her face better, and once again his eyes widened at a particular discovery, “Hey, you’re hurt!” he instinctively lift a hand and pointed at the discoloration on the girl’s lips.

“Just an old wound,” she made a lazy attempt to cover her face by looking away from the boy’s gaze, “Not hurt anymore.”

“Did something happen?”

“...not really?”

“You can tell me, you know,”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” the boy shook his head impatiently, “‘Trust goes both ways’, just like you said.”

The mention of her own words eventually earned him the girl’s attention and slowly, she broke her gaze from the stream towards the steady eyes of the boy, and, as always, to both his and the river’s surprise, beads of water suddenly ran down to her cheeks, and between holding back any possible sob from breaking out by biting down her lower lip and the apparent urge to scowl at the nosy boy, the girl let out a shaky murmur,

“I’m alright--”

“Oh come on, _just talk!_ ”

“My sister died.”

There was a river in the planet Wrea, and today, it learned the meaning of grief.

The boy blinked at that, and after holding their gaze for a beat, they simultaneously dropped their head to the ground, both trying to process the information and reflect on the weight the words brought into their own experience.

“Well,” the girl continued, unfurling one of her arms and brought it up to her face to wipe clean the already dried tears, “Not a ‘sister’ sister, if you know what I mean. But we were close, and I considered her as sister and she’s…” her words faltered, and this time it was her who shook her head a bit too strongly, as if trying to prevent the next tears to fall. The boy said nothing at first, either giving her the time she need or lost in his own thought, the river could not guess by the impassive face he was wearing. But after a second or two, he bent down and followed the girl to sit on the gravels, both arms stretched behind him and legs spread open, and they stayed like that for a while, staring at the water that flow endlessly.

“I came here whenever I feel sad,” the girl began again, her voice steadier, “And it might sound weird, but I feel like, by looking at the river, these vague feelings are carried away by the water.” She took a deep breath, then stretched her legs and arms to mimic the boy, taking one glance and threw him a small smile which the boy replied in kind. “I guess...it must’ve been the same to you too, huh...Cassian?”

“More of less,” he responded with a shrug. “And I don’t think it’s weird.”

“Do you have siblings too?” the girl asked with a hoarse voice.

The boy looked away before saying, “I _had_ brothers, yes.”

“I’m sorry,” at that, the boy he waved a hand, and exchangeably threw her a knowing smile. “Will it get any easier?” she asked again.

“No...I don’t it ever will. But we’re in a war; people die every day.”

At that, the girl looked emptily into the flowing water once again, the grief seemed to slowly fading but the remains of it still lingers between the children. The boy followed her eyes some moment later, lost in his own thought--or his personal grief to his lost brothers as well. The river kept its water gentle, and even though the concept of loss or death was so far still alien to it, it deduced that maybe, the feeling equals to what it felt when the children was not there, when the day came that they would never return to the watershed anymore.

The river didn’t like it, but perhaps, that is why the little girl seemed so upset.

“My father always said,” the boy broke the silence with a sigh, tilting his head so their gaze properly met, “In order to create peace, we must suffer the war until someone wins. But I believe it doesn’t always have to be like that.”

The girl wiped her eyes with her sleeves and stared back curiously, letting him continue. “One way to end this war and prevent more people from dying is to show what you really think to your enemies, without hiding anything, and became allies with them. But then again,” the boy suddenly let out a mocking chuckle and shrugged, staring back to the shadows casted by the sun over the forest on the other side of the river, “It’s impossible to see what a person really thinks and feels deep inside. You don’t even know if they seethe at all.”

They boy might not realize, but the river noticed how the girl’s eyes widened at his last words, now staring him with a stern face, before scrunching her eyebrows and turned her body entirely to face him, crossing her legs in front of her and jutting her body forward which reminded the river of a loth cat that can occasionally be found in the forest downstream, “Do you really think so?” she responded with a low, deepened voice.

“I don’t know,” the boy turned to stare back at her, face equally stern before a smirk formed on his lips, “What do _you_ think? As far as I can see and guess, you look like you’re going to kill me and turn me into your dinner right now.”

“Stupid Tauntaun,” she mumbled back to the boy’s delight, his shoulders shaking with the laugh that rang freely into the quiet air. “Say that again and I’d really kill you…” She made a motion with her hands, holding an invisible knife and swung it forward with accuracy and technique that made the boy dodge out of instinct and raised his one arm--a split second too late--to protect the waist the girl was aiming.

“Dead. Not fast enough,” she said flatly, the thumb of her stabbing hand landed right below the boy’s ribs.

“I wasn’t even try--” The river watched as time seemed to move slower around them: him, trying to grab her wrist and pulling it away from his body; her, twisting the same hand free from the boy’s restrain and successfully poked at a parallel spot, just a little bit behind the first one, again with her thumb.

“Dead again. Didn’t they ever teach you to master _taiju-tek_ more?”

“Didn’t they teach you where to hide weapons better?”

Using the hand that seemed to be useless before, the boy gripped the girl’s stretched arm and slid the long sleeve down towards her elbow, revealing the tip of a metal object.

Their gaze met, devoid of emotion, until the girl’s face lit up slowly into a smug grin.

“Not bad,” she admitted.

“So do you,” the boy replied, releasing her arm within the same second she retracted it. “Impressive speed...Jyn.”

The girl’s grin widened at the mention of her name, “It’s kill or be killed, that’s what my father always say. Leave them no chance to remember your face, or let it be the last thing they see.”

“That’s cold,” the boy’s eyebrows twisted, though his tone betrays nothing.

“I find your ‘method’ colder,” she shrugged, “Pretending to be innocent and weak, only to let your enemy close enough so you can disarm them? Jeez.”

“Well, what can I say. I came from an icy planet anyway,”

“Is that why you also look like a Tauntaun, huh, Cassian?”

“ _Hey!_ ” The boy’s sharp glare only earned him a good laugh from the girl, her voice rang into the air and echoed by the river who splashed it’s water in equal delight, and goes on until the boy had no choice but to join in, his shoulders shaking with the giggle he made.

“Are going to kill me now, then?”

“Will I be able to?” he chuckled, eyes flying to the girl’s boot, “Even if I managed to disarm the one on your arm, you still have another k’unai in there, don’t you?” the boy jutted his chin and she grinned, tapping her legs against the gravel as she confirmed his observation with a cheerful nod.

“But do you _really_ think it is impossible...” the girl added when her laugh had receded into airy snorts, “...to open yourself to your enemy, to let them know what you really think and expect them to do the same?”

“I don’t know,” the boy shrugged casually, but there was a bit of determination that sparks in his eyes in such a way that amuses both the girl and the river. “But I always come here in hope that a way exist.”

“Heh,” she scoffed, but not in a mocking tone, “Hope, huh?”

She threw him a look before turning around to face the river once again, picking up small gravels to be thrown into the otherwise still water. The boy, on the other hand, leaned back against both arms and raised his head up towards the sky, letting the cool breeze ran through his hair. He then closed his eyes, the taut lines on his young face disappeared to reveal a fresher and _proper_ look to fit his age, and beside him, the girl also stared into the water with a softer look, the grief she brought earlier in the conversation seemed to have actually carried away by the stream, exactly as she was hoping it would be.

There was a river in the planet Wrea, and today, it understands the meaning of ‘peace’.

They seemed to have lost in their own train of thought, both the boy Cassian and the girl Jyn, but the silence was far from discomforting. It was minutes later that the boy reopened his eyes, only to fixed them on the girl’s arm where he had previously revealed the location of the k’unai, then slowly upwards to her face. The lack of effort to make the stare less obvious alerted the girl, and she returned his gaze, eyes squinting with pretentious suspicion.

“What?” the girl voiced her curiosity, “Want me to go away? Do I disturb your me-time again?”

“No,” the boy replied quickly, already straightened up as if readying himself to stop whatever she’s going to do, “I can handle one person...if you know what I mean?”

The girl shot him a smirk, “Yeah, I know. It could get too crowded in my place as well.”

The boy shook his head, “I was thinking...” he leaned over, closing the space between them before nudging at the girl’s elbow with his own, “I feel like I can understand you even without looking _inside_ you...judging only from your lame hairstyle and clothes.”

A punch landed accurately to the boy’s upper arm, sending him leaning to the opposite direction entirely, but despite the pain it must’ve caused him, he laughed as he rolled onto the gravels, the voice was a delightful tune to the river and it wasn’t even seconds later that the girl joined him, complimenting the rattling of wind-blown branched under the orange-purplish sky above them.

“Okay but,” wiping the tears from the edges of her eyes, the girl reached out to pull the boy until he was sitting upright again, who was still shaking and holding his stomach from the laugh. “The problem is, how can we concretely change something? I mean, I can’t really get a clear view of the future, so…”

At that, the boy quickly recovered from his previous state and scrunched his eyebrows while staring at the gravels below them, thinking. “I think,” he trailed slowly, “First thing is that one must really hold onto that ideals or goals and become stronger. If you’re weak, no one would listen to you.”

“Hmm, you’re right about that,” the girl nodded, “If we master a lot of ju-tek and become stronger, the adults won’t be able to ignore us! Well, since I’m already stronger than you right now--”

“Hey!”

“--we can teach each other our sheno’bi techniques, how about that?” she choked the words out, “Basically I’m trying to teach how not to die in this war and become stronger together!”

The boy stared at her for a second or two, “You’ll do that?” he asked with genuine wonder.

“Why not?” the girl challenged.

“I could just train with the others, one that will not try to eat me alive.”

“You prefer getting smacked by someone three times your size and weight?” _She was good with words_ , the river mused. In front of her, the boy seemed to weigh on his option, every lines on his face touted against the girl’s neutral ones. “Besides,” she then added with a shrug, “Why not start our vision for a better world now?”

Strange creature indeed, thought the river as it watches the girl stretched one hand between them, palm faced inwards. What they both done so far was to insult if not compete against each other, exposing one weakness after another and yet, both still has the hope of a union, of working together against that war they keep mentioning, and for a good second, the river thought the boy would burst into laughter again at the innocent idea…

...and yet, he mimicked the girl’s gesture, meeting her hand halfway with his own and with an innocent smile, the children exchanged a noble mission, a promise for a better world, with the river as their witness.

They stayed like that for a while, hands linked with each other and swinging and pulling from side to side, giggling at the simple connection. Then, as quick as they then parted, the girl threw a stone at the boy with her other hand, which he caught despite the split-second shock with a magnificent reflex.

“Make it across,” she jutted her chin to the other side of the river, the smile still on her face, “A deal’s a deal. I want to see whether you can beat me this time,”

The boy lowered his neck, “...now?”

“No, yesterday. _Yes, now,_ Cassian!”

“Huh, fine,” he obeyed, and together they raised and took several step closer to the water, the girl watching closely as the boy adjusted his position into what the river recognize as the one she taught him, before swinging his throwing hand once, twice, and then the gravel flew into the air…

...it bounced, and bounced, and eventually, landed safely to join the rest of its kind, on the dry surface on the other side.

The boy turned his face towards the girl with the widest, proudest grin he’d ever reveal.

The girl shrugged, but nonetheless joined his joy.

“Told you it’s in the technique,” she chuckled and poked him with her elbow.

“Yes, yes, thank you,” the boy replied, before looking up towards the darkened sky, the smile on his face disappeared just a bit, “I think I need to get back now, or I have to answer to too many questions.”

“Yeah, me too,” she scanned her surrounding lazily, yet for a second or two, none of them do anything to materialize what they just said. “I guess I’ll see you...next week?” the girl got out cautiously, staring at the boy through her eyelashes, waiting.

“Sure thing!” he replied eagerly, then, after a quick nod, took several steps behind towards where he came earlier, “Try not to die until next week...Jyn.”

“Pssh, say that to yourself.”

“You know what I mean,”

With an awkward wave of his hand from the edge of the forest, the boy then disappeared into the shadows, leaving the girl alone smiling to herself, before she too returned to her early trail on another corner of the riverbed.

 

There was river in the planet Wrea and today, it prayed that the children’s hope could make it across like their stones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and input! Hope you enjoy this one as wel

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally here, woohoo!
> 
> Sorry I was so excited yet also anxious about this fic, not only because I feel like I've been teasing it for far too long, but also because I have no idea whatsoever on how people/readers will perceive it.
> 
> But basically, this is a work of passion, where I combined two of my favorite fandom into a fic, so I really hope-even though most of you might not know anything about Naruto-everyone can enjoy this piece as much as I enjoyed writing them. 
> 
> Some info: Wrea is the planet where Jyn 'grew up' with Saw and his Partisans, some times after Saw took her from Lah'mu, and supposedly an oceanic planet (or so as Wookiepedia said).
> 
> The background story of this fic is the sort of early relationship between Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage of Konoha and Madara Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha's ancestor. You can find the bits of their story [here](https://www.mangareader.net/naruto/621/16). To this day I still re-read the chapters over and over again--that's how much I like the story :P
> 
> This was supposed to be a one-shot but then 7 pages grew to 18 pages, so (LOL who are you kidding, Georgine??) Also, please forgive the grammatical error since I posted this without any beta, but I will always, always welcome constructive comments and input about anything related to this fic so please do not hesitate to DM me or put it in the comments below!
> 
> Ah yes, last but not least, this one's actually a prompt fill for xxx (I can't open my Tumblr yet so this will be updated soon) who requested for "34. Good enough" from this prompt list.
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it! More to come!


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